A star in the dark
by Ejes
Summary: Being home was all she ever dreamt about. As a Master, her role was to protect the world order, to keep the Light safe. But for now, Aqua only wanted to enjoy her days in the Land of Departure with Terra and Ventus and remember what home felt like. But that night she met a mysterious star marked the beginning of an unlikely friendship...
1. Chapter 1

_**Hello everyone! I woke up to a new FFVII trailer, and the best way to celebrate is by posting the first chapter of a brand new fic! You read that right, the FIRST CHAPTER! Been a while since I wrote multi chap fics. To be completely honest with you guys, chapter 2 isn't fully written yet and I cannot guarantee when this will be updated, but it won't be a weekly update. Hope you will enjoy reading this as much as I'm enjoying writing it!**_

* * *

Now that they were back, the days in the Land of Departure looked all the same to Aqua. She woke up right before sunrise. Took a quick breakfast. Jogged around the world for an hour. Came back. Took a shower. Greeted Terra and woke Ven up. Trained some more with both of them. Had lunch together. Spent the afternoon reading, training some more with Terra for his next exam, playing board games with them, or crafting some more wayfinders. Had dinner together. Shared some of their dearest memories of their late Master with Ven who loved listening to them. Went to sleep. Started again.

It was monotonous, but comforting. After years spent wondering if there was going to be a tomorrow, feeling the wind blow on her face and seeing the sun rise and set was all she could dream of. She was next to her friends. She could see their face whenever she wanted to ; if any of them had a nightmare or troubles sleeping, they would all huddle together and talk until everyone was safely asleep. She could eat proper food, have warm showers and even baths. She didn't have to fear for her life or her safety. This was the haven she needed right now.

But this was also the reason she noticed right away when something became different. She knew the second she woke up : it was an hour earlier than she usually did. She knew the second she accidently dropped her cup of tea and spilled her precious drink. She knew the second she decided that her jogging circuit would be different this day. Her steps took her deeper into the forest than where she usually go. She couldn't explain why today was different. Today was different and it was a fact. And there was something deep inside the forest that just called to her, that lured her. It was a silent siren's song and her heart succumbed to it.

She knew this place. Of course she did, as she spent more than a decade on this world, exploring every inch of it, but this place was special to her. It was a quiet clearing where she could meditate and look at the stars, clearing her mind far from the Castle and the endless study. She used to come a lot here when she was an apprentice, but she had not set foot here since they all came back. This was the perfect place for stargazing. But never in her life had she seen a star in the middle of her clearing.

It was floating in the middle of the place, its light not too bright ; had it not been night, she might not even have seen it. This wasn't a real star, as in, an actual world shining in the sky, but whatever that was, it was star shaped, faintly glowing, and she was sure it wasn't there before. She took an careful step forward, then another one. Soon enough, she was close enough to touch it, but as she tried to, the star flew away, dashing a few feet backwards, and she jumped back too with a gasp, surprised it moved. Now this had all her attention. She walked closer again, but this time, the star didn't wait to be touched to escape, and she chased it all around the clearing, unable to catch it, but noticing it would never try to escape through the trees, or fly away in the sky.

"Now, _what_ are you?" she asked, slightly out of breath, staring at the pointy light in the air.

"_Who knows…_" Was is the wind? She could have sworn she heard a voice, but there was no one around. Could it be the star itself?

"Did you… Did you just talk?"

Only silence answered. It was definitely the wind. Of course it was the wind. She didn't sleep as much as she usually did, and she didn't have her morning tea. Her mind wasn't clear. How could this star talk? She shook her head. Sun was beginning to rise. It was time for her routine. She looked back at the star who had started to float aimlessly again, and smiled. Stars didn't talk. Whatever it was, she would think about it later. It was time to go.

The day went by as normally as it could. She didn't even mention the star to Terra and Ven. She had not forgotten about it, but set it aside in a corner of her mind for later notice. They trained, had lunch, trained some more and soon enough it was bedtime and she was back in her bed. She sat up, looking at the night sky. The stars were beautiful tonight. She once had learnt the name of every constellation ; she remembered at least 70% of them. She thought about her mysterious star. What was it? Was it something her mind made up because she was tired? She couldn't think of any other explanation. She would fall asleep early tonight, get plenty of rest, and tomorrow would be better. Monotonous and comforting.

* * *

When she woke up, the moon was still up in the sky. She felt it might be even earlier than the morning before. And she still could feel it, that tingling, that urge to get up and go back to the forest. This time, she took a huge cup of coffee, making sure she was fully awake. She grabbed a coat, as the wind might still be chilly that early in the morning, and, after a second thought, a scarf and a thermos for her coffee. Even if the star had been just a dream, there were plenty more in the sky she could take some time to look at.

The clearing was empty. She couldn't help but let out a sigh of disappointment. Of course, it had been just a dream. It made sense. She didn't even understand how she could have believe it was real: a star floating in the middle of nowhere? She just needed some sleep. The events of these past few years had been rough for everyone, she had to take it easy. She lied down on the grass, staring at the night sky. It was beautiful, and really peaceful. She should come over more often. Here, it felt as if there was nothing wrong left in this world. Just silence, the nice one, the comforting one. This place carried nothing but good memories. Maybe it felt even more home than home itself.

She was lost in her thoughts when she saw something from the corner of her eye. A firefly? She slowly turned her head, careful not to scare the bug away, but it was no bug. Her star was back.

"So you _are_ real," she whispered with a smile. "I know I'm not dreaming this time." The star seemed to be startled by her voice, and it flew a bit further away from her. She carefully sat up, showing her open hands. "I mean no harm. Come over here! I won't hurt you. I promise." Could it understand her words? She had no idea, but at least her gentle voice seemed to reassure the star, as it flew closer, although keeping a safe distance between them. Aqua chuckled. "It's okay. Take all the time you need. I'm planning to spend the whole night here - what's left of it, anyway."

She lied on her back once again, looking at the stars, trying to remember their names. Trying to find out which ones were actually worlds she visited. She wished she could visit them, but as a Master, she knew it would be irresponsible to risk the world order when there was no sign of trouble. And as someone who went through so much, she didn't mind spending a bit more time home. Having the star by her side felt comforting, for reasons she ignored. It felt like a silent friend, someone who was there, someone who would listen. She knew this made no sense whatsoever, but this felt nice. She must have fallen asleep, because the sun was up when she opened her eyes. It was still morning, not really late, though, so she still had time for her usual schedule. Much to her surprise, the star was still here, even closer to her than it had been when she fell asleep. She could almost touch it now - not that she would risk it, though, remembering how it escaped last time. Instead, she smiled at it, and gently stretched, making sure to avoid any sudden movement that could alarm her silent friend, before slowly getting to her feet.

"I have to go for now, but I'll be back next night, if you don't mind?" The star twinkled, and Aqua laughed, a bit surprised. "I'll take that as a yes. See you tomorrow! Oh, and by the way, I'm Aqua. It's nice spending time with you."

"A...Qua."

This time it definitely wasn't the wind. And not an hallucination either. She was fully awake, there wasn't a sound, and yet a voice said her name. She gasped, stepping back. "So you can talk! I knew it!"

Was it her voice, that was too loud? Was it the flock of birds that flew away from the trees? No matter what it was, something scared the star away, and it flew away into the trees so fast Aqua barely saw it move. "No, wait! I didn't mean to... I'm sorry!" She tried to chase it, but she couldn't find it anywhere. The star was gone.

She returned to the castle, slightly disappointed. She hoped the star would be there tomorrow as well. If it could really talk, this changed the whole perspective of it. She wanted to know more about it. Where was it from? What was it really? She had no idea, but she wanted to know. It wasn't everyday you could meet a talking star. And yet she now wished it would somehow be her everyday.

* * *

"Oh, Aqua, you're back later than usual," Terra said as she walked into the training room. Ven was here too, practicing his sword moves.

"I stopped by the forest. Had not been there in a while. You are up early, Ven."

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep tonight. Everytime I closed my eyes, I... Well, it just took me a while to fall asleep, and in the end, I woke up on my own."

Nightmares. They were used to them. All three of them. Aqua dreamt she was drowning in never ending Darkness, and that nobody came looking for her, because nobody cared about her. Terra dreamt about losing control once again and hurting them. He didn't talk much about it, but there were nights she'd find him sitting in the kitchen, staring at his hands, tears in his eyes, and he finally confessed about it. _What if he comes back, Aqua? What if I... When that day comes, end me. Please. I cannot hurt you._ She had shaken her head and took his huge hands in her small ones. _Not when. If. And this isn't going to happen. He's gone, Terra. And I know you will never hurt us._

But what were Ven's nightmares about? He never talked about them. When they asked, he would just say he didn't remember, he just remembered being scared. Sometimes he would make things up, and the lie was obvious, but they never pressed him. They were just sad he wouldn't open to them.

"Yeah, the night's been short for everyone, I see," Terra sighed, and Aqua noticed the dark circles under his eyes. So all three of them had troubles sleeping that night. That wasn't really surprising. Aqua wondered if there was anything they could do for the nightmares to finally stop.

"How about we have a picnic for lunch?" She offered with a smile. "Lifting everyone's spirit up."

"A picnic? I'd love that!" This was almost enough to remove that haunted spark from Ven's eyes ; but _almost enough_ wasn't enough, and Aqua couldn't help but feel helpless at this.

"Sounds nice. I have an suggestion. Let's fight, and the loser is the one preparing the sandwiches." Ven gasped, looking at Terra and quickly throwing his practice sword away to summon his real Keyblade.

"You'll be sorry, Terra! Bring it on! I'll have three cucumber sandwiches, you might want to start preparing them right now!"

Aqua laughed, calling her own weapon. This was the best way they all had to change their minds. Practicing more and more. They were all really conscious about how they lost before because they had not been strong enough, and getting stronger was what kept them going.

* * *

"The weather is so nice today. I wish I could stay here forever."

" Ven, you still need to study. Stay here as long as you wish... until the end of our break and then we're going back to the Castle. Today were going to learn proper etiquette when addressing Monarchs, it's going to be a lot of fun!"

"Yaaay, I can't wait..." He said with a sigh. "Ah, Terra, hope my sandwiches are ready!"

Terra was bringing a tray full of food. They were having lunch on the picnic table behind the Castle, and Aqua had brought the drinks ; but Terra, as the loser of the fight, had worked on the food.

There was a lot of unsaid behind his defeat. He had winked at Aqua, whispering loud enough for Ven to hear that he didn't want the boy to lose, but Aqua knew there was something more than that. Ven had gone stronger, strong enough for both of them to attack him with their full strength ; but Terra feared that strength. He feared Darkness might come back. He feared it so much it held him back when he fought. This was why he lost against Ven, against Aqua. It wasn't a lack of strength. It was a lack of faith in himself.

They all took a bite into their sandwiches, and for a while, no one talked. They were starving. Only once they were done did Terra talk.

"Aqua, did something happen? You look... somewhere else. Somewhere nice, I'd even say, given your smile."

Truth was, she had been thinking about her star. This event in her life was the best thing she could dream of : something mysterious she'd have to investigate, but something on this familiar Land where she could keep on having her regular life.

"Nothing, really, " she lied. It was a bit selfish, but as of right now, and until she knew more about it, she didn't want to mention the star to them. They would scare it, she knew that already. Terra had a permanent frown and Ven was loud. If the star was sometimes scared about her, there was no way it would accept these two. "I'm just happy we get to spend time underneath the same sky again. Happy to see the sun. Happy to share my life with you both. And happy I'm having these sandwiches. They are wonderful, Terra." Not a full lie, then. Half a truth. She was incredibly grateful for every second breathing air that wasn't reeking of Darkness. The boys beamed at her and she smiled back, until Ven tried to steal her dessert and it ended up in a sneaky fight.

She loved these boys.

* * *

Saying she was excited was an understatement. That night, she went to bed early, but set up an alarm to wake up three hours before sunrise. She had selected a few books, mostly about stars, and a torchlight to read them in the clearing. She had taken some leftover dessert (that cherry pie was too good to be wasted), some warm clothes. She was more than ready.

Finding sleep was hard ; not only wasn't she really tired, but her mind was running so fast she couldn't find the peace needed to fall asleep. In the end, she fell asleep just as late as she usually did, but with a rare grin on her face.

The alarm rang, and she was up within seconds. She made another bottle of coffee, grabbed her stuff and sneaked out, careful not to wake anyone up - not that Ven would wake up that easily, though. She hurried to her special spot, her hair still a mess from her bedhead, and her eyes only half open. But the star was here, circling in the clearing. It sparkled when she became visible, and she smiled. Could it be the star was expecting her? She walked closer, keeping the safe distance the star left the previous night, and she sat on the grass, drinking a bit of coffee.

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting. Aren't you lonely, here on your own?" The star didn't answer, but it seemed really interested by her bottle. It flew closer, then shied away, again and again. She giggled. "That's coffee. I don't know if you can smell things, but it smells divine." She stretched out her arm carefully, holding the bottle in her hand. The star came closer, until it was just above the bottle.

"Smells... good."

Aqua chuckled. "So you can see, talk, hear, and even smell. That's really interesting. Who are you really?"

"Who... knows." These words. These were the first words the star said. The words Aqua believed might just be an hallucination. She had thought that perhaps, it could only repeat what she said, like a parrot would, but she had said the coffee smelled _divine_, not good, and _who knows_ was definitely not something she had said. The star was fully able to talk. Maybe it had a limited vocabulary, but it understood her, and it could reply on its one. The longer she spent with it, the more fascinated she became.

"Do you have a name?"

"Name?"

"Yes, a name! I'm Aqua. Is there a name I can call you by?"

The star fell silent for a while. Aqua hoped she didn't say something wrong, somehow. She had taught Ven proper etiquette regarding addressing Monarchs, but she didn't know anything about addressing stars.

"No...Name."

There was something about the flow of its words. It always said the first one, paused for a while, then said the second one. As if talking wasn't something natural. For all she knew, it probably wasn't natural for stars anyway. She just hoped the pauses weren't because it was suffering.

"No name? So you don't have one, is that it?" This was a yes no question. This would be, she hoped, easier for the star.

"No...memory."

"You… You don't remember your name?"

"No."

"Oh. I see. I'm sorry." Was she being inappropriate, once again? She didn't want to hurt her new friend. A friend. This was a floating star who could only answer using two words to her questions, a faceless being, and she started regarding it as a friend. Life sure was lonely in the Land of Departure. "Would you like me to find you one?" The thought hit her suddenly, and she prayed she wasn't overstepping. "A name, I mean. I'd like to have something to call you by. If that's fine with you."

"Yes." Her smile grew wider. She would have to come up with a good one. This was a heavy task, and a very important one too. She couldn't mess up.

She clapped her hands, but the star didn't fly away. It trusted her now. She was glad. "Very well. I will think about it. Oh, what kind of name would you like? A female's name? A male's one? Something neutral?"

"Male." It didn't even think about it, and she smiled.

"Very well then. I hope I'll come up with something soon."

"Yes." The star sparkled and flew in small circles, and Aqua wondered if that was a sign of excitement. One thing was for sure, _she_ was excited.

She lied down on the grass, opening one of her books and turning her flashlight on. For the rest of the night, she read out loud stories about stars for her shining friend.

* * *

_**To anyone who ever read Secret Place, the clearing is basically the same one ; I have this headcanon of Aqua having a quiet place where she can run to when she wants some alone time.**_

_**Please let me know if you enjoyed this first chapter, and make sure to follow the fic to know when the next one is posted :D**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**And back I am, after a very long time! Been super busy with life, but here comes chapter 2. Enjoy!**_

* * *

It took her two days of extensive research in every book of the library, but when she came back to the clearing, her eyes sparkling, she couldn't hide her excitement.

"I found one!"

If the star twinkled at her showing up, it didn't show any sign of curiosity about what she was talking about. So much for the suspense.

"A name. I found you one. That is, if you like it, of course."

"Name."

She nodded with a huge grin. "You're ready to hear it?"

"Ready."

She suddenly started doubting. What if her friend didn't like it? What if she did a really poor job? But it was too late to go back now. She could still think of something else later.

"How about Xenos?" She had been reluctant to chose that one at first. She somehow wasn't to keen on X names anymore. But she was also well aware that this was childish and that a name didn't define who you were. She liked how the name sounded, it was short, and there was nothing wrong about it.

"Xenos…" The star repeated the name a few times, with a very long silence between them. Aqua blushed.

"Of course, I told you, I can still find something el-"

"Xenos." The star sparkled, twinkling brightly and starting flying all around the clearing. "Xenos."

"Is that… a yes? You like it?"

"Like...it." She was thrilled, a strange feeling of pride in her chest. She had picked a name and it - no, _he_ \- liked it. It was a success. She still didn't know exactly what or who he was, but it didn't matter, because now that he had a name, he felt more real to her.

"Thank...you." It was the first time the star - _Xenos _\- was that close to her. It flew in circles around her, and she thought about how dogs sometimes did that when they were happy. A way to express happiness when there was no other way. She smiled, and her cheeks were starting to hurt from smiling so much. She had lost the habit, in the Realm of Darkness, and even though she was back to Terra's and Ven's side, and she smiled a lot more now, the smiles they shared usually were sad, painful, bitter, or meant to be comforting.

"I brought a fairytale book, by the way," she finally said once Xenos had calmed down a little bit. "I thought this might be nice to read to you. I used to read them once a week when I was little. My Master would read them to me, too, when I was too tired to read alone. They are really good stories."

She sat on the grass, her torchlight on. But, right before opening the book, a question came to her mind and it might be the right time to ask it.

"Hey, Xenos… You don't talk much, but you understand me, do you? Is talking… Is talking painful?" She was worried she was hurting him by forcing him to answer to her every time. And he was now silent, very still, and she realised asking this was probably off limit. What if she offended him? What if he refused to talk to her again? He was the only one not treating her like a fragile little thing. And he was the only one she wasn't worried would suddenly break down. That was, until now ; now she worried about this for Xenos too.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have… It's none of my business anyway. Don't mind me."

"I… understand." This was such a relief that he answered! He didn't sound hurt by her words. Then, again, he never really sounded _anything_. She could hear his words, but his voice wasn't something she could define. It was as if she _knew_ he was saying things, but not really like she heard them out loud.

"Words… forgotten…" he added after a while. She tried understanding what he meant.

"You can understand what I say, but you don't remember how to use words to talk?"

"...Yes."

"Does it hurt? Talking. Is it painful to talk?"

"...No."

She sighed of relief. That was good.

"...Just… forgotten."

She nodded. "Okay then. I'm glad you're not in pain. If you forgot how to do it, maybe I can just help you remember? Practice should be the key." She looked at her book, still on her lap. "Oh, I know! Maybe we can read this together?"

"Together?"

"Yes! I read some bits of it, and you repeat them. It's going to take some time at first, but it might get better with time! What do you think?"

Xenos twinkled for a moment, and Aqua wondered if that meant he was thinking. Then, after a couple of minutes (which felt like an eternity), he got back to his normal shine.

"Okay… Try."

She smiled, opening the book. "Let's go then. The first tale is called Little Red Riding Hood. Once upon a time, there was in a village a little girl known as Little Red Riding Hood…"

* * *

Night after night, they'd meet up and read more stories. It took them three nights to read Little Red Riding Hood, as Xenos could only say a couple of words at once. However, he did admit it was easier to just repeat rather than have a real conversation. Aqua would visit five times a week, getting two complete nights of sleep each week. This was still pretty tiresome, she had to admit, especially with the daily schedule she had with Terra and Ven, but it was also really relaxing. Xenos had given her a new goal, a new purpose. Something that had nothing to do with fighting, or even protecting the worlds. She knew that someday, Yen Sid would call and say he needed them. And she knew that they would have no choice but to go, to fight, and maybe to lose precious things once again. She was training Terra and Ven for the Mark of Mastery for that purpose exactly : because more fights were to come.

It was different with Xenos. She just wanted to help him. There would be no war with him, no fighting. Daytime was a time of fights and war. Nighttime was a time of peace and quiet. And no matter how much she loved Terra and Ven, it was near Xenos that she felt the most relaxed.

And he was making progress. It was slow, of course, he wasn't chit chatting after barely a month of training, but he was able to speak faster - still two words at a time, sometimes three, but the pause between words had significantly decreased, and she was really proud. She was learning to decipher his emotions by the way he moved, flew, sparkled and twinkled. Of course, this was totally arbitrary and she was probably really wrong about a lot of these, but it helped. Sometimes, she even forgot he was a talking star, and felt like she was talking to a proper person. He was a friend, and she had grown fond of him, counting the hours before meeting with him again.

* * *

She was lost in her thoughts, thinking about how this month had been somewhat crazy, when Terra called her. Their morning session had just ended (focusing on water spells), and she was planning to take a nap in the sun.

"Aqua, do you have a minute? There's something I'd like to discuss with you."

"Of course. Do you mind if we go outside, though? Let's enjoy the sun while we can."

She was surprised by his low voice, as if he had something bad to say. Which he might. She hoped it was nothing too serious, however : she had grown fond of the peace from these lands and she could only pray no more troubles would arise.

They sat on the very bench she had planned to take a nap on, and she smiled at him.

"What is it? I'm all ears."

"You have changed, Aqua. Did something happen?"

"Changed?" She let out a nervous laugh. "Things did happen, of course, but I think you know exactly what?"

"I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about lately. Since we came back." He looked down, and she resisted the urge to take his hand, the way she did when Ven looked sad. She knew Terra was too serious here to be treated lightly. "It's just that I feel… alone."

"What do you mean? We're here, we're right here with you, Terra. You are not alone."

"Am I not, though?" He looked at her, and there was something in his eyes that looked fierce. Hurt. It broke her heart. "There's something going on, Aqua. Something you're not telling me. And that's something I'd like to hear about."

"Terra, I…"

"I'm not blaming you." He smiled sadly. "You are allowed to have your secrets, and if you really don't want to tell me, I'll understand. I am not alone, you're right. But I'm lonely. Ven spends most of his time with Chirithy, talking about things Chirithy said it might be best we didn't know. And you are… You are somewhere else, Aqua. Have you even noticed ? You're always tired. You are distracted. Yesterday, you read us the same page three times. It's not even that you look stressed. If I may say, you somehow look happier than before. But something changed. If it's not too much to ask, I'd like you to tell me what that is."

Aqua stared at her hands, on her lap. Of course he would notice. That was Terra, after all. He always knew when something was wrong. When they were younger, he'd find any reason to stay by her side when something was wrong, pretending he didn't understand the Master's teaching of the day and asking her to explain once again, coming to play with her, saying he had a nightmare and asking if it was ok if he slept with her. He always could tell. She had been a fool to think this time would be different.

"You're right. Something happened." She sighed. She realised now she never mentioned it to them, not even once, because she had been selfish. Xenos was _her_ friend. Xenos was _her_ safe space, someone she could be around and forget for a couple of hours the horror from the past, someone who brought her peace, someone she had not been willing to share. "I met a new friend. His name is Xenos. I only meet up with him at night and that's why I'm so tired. I didn't tell you about him because I…" It hurt to admit it. It hurt to let the words go. It hurt because she was ashamed, it hurt because the Master would be sad she lied.

"You didn't tell us because you don't owe us anything." Terra took her hand with a smile. "Where did you meet him? I thought you said you didn't want to leave this world?"

"I didn't. He only appears at night."

"... appears?"

"He's a bit… peculiar. I'd love you guys to meet him, however… I need to make sure it's alright with him. He's a bit shy. I don't want to force anything on him. Took me long enough to get him to trust me."

Terra chuckled. "Of course. Take all the time you need. I'm glad you told me about that. But I'd like you to promise me one thing, Aqua."

"Anything," she said, knowing this could already be a lie. Terra leaned in, kissing her cheek.

"Please get some proper sleep."

She smiled back, her cheeks a soft shade of pink. "Well, about that… I was just about to take a nap, to be completely honest with you."

"Oh, is that so? Well, lucky you, I happen to carry with me the softest, nicest, comfiest pillow ever, tested and approved by the two best nap experts I've ever met. Would you like to try that?"

"Terra, don't ever change," she giggled as she put her head on his lap. "Really the comfiest pillow around," she approved while closing her eyes. She could feel the nice breeze on her face and the gentle touch of his fingers on her hair, and she fell asleep.

* * *

When night came, she realised she was more relaxed than she'd ever been. Talking to Terra had been the right thing to do. No matter how much she enjoyed Xenos's company, she could not leave her friends behind. She needed to spend some real time with them too. It was true that Ventus spent a lot of time with Chirithy, and she hoped that maybe she could join them sometimes.

"Good night, Xenos!" she cheered as she stepped into the empty clearing. Just because he wasn't _there_ didn't mean he wasn't around, and she knew he'd show up when he was ready. She lied down on the grass, staring at the sky while waiting for her friend.

"Good night… Aqua."

She smiled, not sitting up right away. She waited until he was closer, twinkling of impatience.

"Ready for some more reading?"

He didn't answer, but he didn't have to. She knew he was looking forward to their night sessions as much as she did. She wondered what he did in daytime. What happened to the stars when the sun rose in the sky? Was Xenos sent in other worlds? Or did he just sleep? She felt this question would require an answer longer than anything he could provide, so she just kept it in her head.

"Once upon a time," she started.

"Once upon a… time", Xenos echoed.

* * *

They stopped somewhere in the middle of the tale. There wasn't much night time left for them. Aqua yawned and stretched, getting up.

"Say, Xenos? Can I ask you something?"

"You can."

She was a bit nervous. What if he disliked the idea? What if he got scared, angry? But this mattered to her, and there was no going back now.

"I've never told you much about my life out there. Outside the forest. I live with my two best friends, Terra and Ventus. They are the two best people I ever met. Terra might look a bit scary at first, being all tall and strong, but he's actually a big softie, and Ven… It's impossible not to love Ven. He's sweet, he's funny, he loves everyone and everyone loves him. You would love him too, I'm sure. Love them too."

"Best friends?"

"Yes. They are incredibly dear to me. I almost lost them before, and I almost got lost too, and they are all I have. They are my world, and they mean everything to me."

"Dear people."

"What I mean is… I love spending time with you here. And I love spending time with them there. And I was wondering - I mean, if that's fine with you - I thought that perhaps you wouldn't mind meeting them? Here, I mean. I could bring them here. Have all of you meet. If you agree. You don't have to say yes, you don't have to answer right away. It's just that… You don't have to feel like you have to. It's all up to you."

She closed her eyes, cursing under her breath. She had drowned him with words. She was so ridiculous! Why couldn't she just say something like '_Hey, mind if my friends join next time? It's cool if you don't wanna, though!_'? The answer was simple. Even when thinking about these words, she'd hear them with Ven's words. That layback attitude wasn't hers. Hers was the worried, stressed, anxious, careful not to hurt anyone's feeling attitude.

"You love them?"

She gasped, lost so deep inside her monologue she had almost forgotten where she was. "I do. Very much."

"I want to…" He took a break, and her heart started racing. "Meet them." Her heart slowed down. She sighed, relieved, and smiled brightly.

"I'm glad you do. I'll come tomorrow night with them. I hope you'll all get along. Goodbye, Xenos."

"Bye."

* * *

She could barely sleep in what was left of the night. There would be no jogging for her that morning, she was too tired and too thrilled for that. Instead, she prepared breakfast for everyone, an enormous pile of pancakes, creamy scrambled eggs, homemade orange juice, and even a bowl of fruits salad. Ven woke up first, which was unusual, but there was something in his eyes that made Aqua not ask what happened. It probably was a nightmare. It always was because of nightmares. But when he saw the profusion of food on the table, his eyes sparkled and the ghost of his bad night disappeared.

"Wow, Aqua! Did something happen? Is this my birthday?" He suddenly gasped, his face pale. "Is it _your _birthday?"

"Of course not, Ven."

"Terra's?"

"Ven. I just wanted to cook breakfast. It's nobody's birthday. It's just food."

"Don't scare me like that!" He said with a hand on his heart, taking a dramatic pose. "Now what's for breakfast?" Aqua chuckled as he took a seat and almost drooled while looking at the food.

He was in the middle of his fourth pancake when Terra finally appeared, looked at the table and paled.

"Is it someone's birthday?"

"I swear you two will be the end of me. Just sit and eat, Terra. And if I hear anyone say the word birthday again, I'll double up the magic training this morning." Despite her words, Aqua was smiling and she sounded more amused than angry. She sat next to them, taking some fruits, and merrily chatted with them.

* * *

"Oh, right, Ven!" she remembered as they were cleaning up the table. "I mentioned this to Terra before, but would the two of you like to join me tonight? There's someone I'd like you to meet."

"Someone? Who's that? Do we know them? Where did you meet? Where are we meeting them?" Ven playfully pressed with questions, and Aqua laughed.

"If you want to find out, you have to come, sleepyhead" she teased, ruffling his hair. "Think you can stay up late tonight?"

"For your smile, Aqua, I'd stay awake a whole week." Ven managed to keep his serious for two entire seconds before bursting into laughter, soon followed by the two others. It felt good to laugh, she thought. They weren't doing enough of it lately. They shared what was left of the breakfast chatting, laughing, enjoying their time together. It felt like home again.

* * *

The day went on wonderfully. Everyone was in a really good mood, leaving the ghosts of their pasts behind for the day and simply training, learning, trading some techniques in a particularly intense game of Command Board and even cleaning the place together. The closer they were to the night, the more excited Aqua was. What would they think of Xenos? Would they be disturbed by a talking star? Perhaps they would have theories about him. She had met no such thing in the Realm of Darkness, but Terra might know something - even Ven could have gained knowledge while dreaming. They had dinner late, to wait until night fell, and while she could tell how sleepy Ven was, he was fighting it to meet that mysterious new friend. So as soon as the sun set, she took their hands in hers and almost dragged them to her favourite place.

"So you still come here, huh?" Terra mused as they were getting closer. "I remember you hid there when we fought as kids."

"What? Terra, you made Aqua cry?" Ven sounded shocked, but Aqua could see the mischievous glimmer in his eyes - he was teasing his friend. Terra shrugged, unapologetic.

"I did. She made me cry too, you know. How the Master managed to raise two devilish kids like us, I wonder. He really deserves all the respect in the worlds."

"Come on, Terra, we weren't that terrible most of the time. Just children. But he does deserve our respect nonetheless."

Terra winked at her and she smiled. It was true that they were sometimes a bit difficult, but she knew they grew up into very decent people and that the Master was to thank for that.

"Here we are." She sighed, a bit nervous, listing everything that could possibly go wrong. "Listen, he is a bit shy, so please be gentle. No sudden moves, only quiet voices. Will you do this for me?"

"Of course," Terra promised.

"I still don't know who that is," Ven pouted. "And there's no one here."

He was right. The clearing was empty. Aqua felt knots in her stomach, but she gave them a confident smile.

"It's still early. Maybe he'll show up a bit later. We have to be patient."

And so they waited. They sat on the grass, talking in hushed voice, and the moon rose in the sky, and the stars started shining in the sky, and yet the only star Aqua was waiting for was nowhere to be seen. _Where does he go, when he's not here?_

"Aqua, it's really late." Terra was right. It was way past midnight, and Ven was struggling to keep his eyes open.

"He'll come. He always does. I promise." Why was she so desperate? "Xenos?" she called. "Xenos, if you can hear me, it's me, Aqua. I told you I'd bring my friends tonight, remember? Don't be afraid. They are really nice. I thought you wanted to meet them too. You can come now. They are friends."

Only silence answered back. Her shoulders collapsed. Terra put a hand on her back, startling her.

"It's getting cold. Let's go home. Maybe tonight wasn't the right night. You'll have us introduced another time, okay? Let's just all go home."

She got up, staring at her feet. She was so sad. Where was Xenos? Why didn't he show up? Did something happen, of did he just get scared? All sorts of scenarios were playing in her head, and she was walking a few feet ahead of them. She had bothered them for nothing. She hoped they weren't mad at her. She hoped Xenos wasn't either.

"I feel sorry for her," she heard Ventus whisper to Terra. "She looked so happy."

"Yeah," Terra answered, also in a hushed voice. "But at least she found something that reminds her what _happy_ feels like. I'm glad. She looks so much better lately."

"Did _you_ find something like that, Terra?"

She hear Terra chuckle. "Of course I did. That's both of you. I've missed you for so long I now cherish every second I get to spend with you."

She sadly smiled. She felt so selfish. Terra felt better just by being by their side. So why hadn't that been enough for her? Why, even though she woke up to their faces every morning, was her heart so heavy, her chest so painful?

"Who was that Xenos anyway?" Ventus asked Terra.

"I don't know. I'd say an animal? She said he only comes out at night, so perhaps an owl or something? When we were kids, she brought a rat home and the Master struggled to have her release it."

"An animal? The way she talked about him, I thought it was someone?"

Terra answered in a voice so low she almost didn't hear him - she wished she had not.

"I'm not sure myself. But you know, Ven, she had her share of traumatic events. Maybe… Having someone she can rely on and spending time with might be part of the healing process. So let's not bother her with this. As long as she's happy."

Tears pricked her eyes, and she walked slightly faster. Terra thought Xenos wasn't real. Maybe Ven did too. They thought she made up an imaginary friend, like a kid would, they thought it was all in her head, they thought she was crazy.

Was she crazy? Was Xenos even real?

_Of course he is!_ her heart screamed. _Of course he is real. Just because he didn't show up tonight doesn't mean he's fake._

_But isn't he, though?_ her brain answered. _Think about it. How many people you know ever met talking stars? Terra might just be right._

It hurt to admit it, but this could very well all be in her head. She kissed her boys goodnight and buried herself under her covers, sobbing herself to sleep.

None of them mentioned last night throughout the day. They all did a really good job at faking it. At faking everything was fine. At faking she was fine.

But when the moon rose again and she joined her clearing once more, her heart started racing in her chest.

It didn't matter if he was real. It didn't matter if he was just a creation of her mind.

All that mattered was that her star was floating in the air, sparkling brighter than ever.

* * *

_**He's got a name now! He might (not) be real (or is he?), but my dearest Xenos has got a name! Now it's time for Aqua to figure out what he is exactly!**_

_**There's no telling when chapter 3 will be posted, hopefully faster than this one, but I cannot promise anything!**_


End file.
